Sanding hopper

ABSTRACT

THE SANDING APPARATUS COMPRISES AT LEAST ONE STORAGE HOPPER WHICH IS REMOVABLY MOUNTED ON AN ATTACHMENT FRAME ON THE FRONT OF A VEHICLE AND HAS SANDING CHUTES LOCATED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF BEFORE THE FRONT WHEELS OF THE VEHICLE. THE HOPPER IS PREFERABLY PROVIDED WITH SUPPORT LEGS AND IS CONNECTED TO A SUSPENSION FRAME BY MEANS OF PIVOTAL LEVERS CONTROLLED BY A HYDRAULIC OR PNEUMATIC JACK.

United States Patent Inventor Walter Hirt St. Blaslen/Black Forest.Germany Appl No 794,499 Filed Jan. 28, 1969 Patented June 28, 1971Assignee lng. Schmidt, Alfred Blasien/Black Forest, Germany PriorityFeb. 24, 1968 Germany P 16 55 214.0

SANDING HOPPER 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

u.s.c1 291/1, 222/113, 222/176, 222/538, 291/38 I111. (31 B60b 39/04,

B61C 15/10, 867d 5/64 [50] FleldolSearch 291/1,3, 38, 39,222/173, 176,538

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,745,705 2/1930 Nordquist291/38X 1,973,083 9/1934 Levorchick et a1. 291/39X 3,399,917 9/1968McLean 1. 291/38X Primary ExaminerArthur L. LaPoint AssistantExaminer-Howard Beltran Anomey Nolte and Nolte ABSTRACT: The sandingapparatus comprises at least one storage hopper which is removablymounted on an attachment frame on the front ofa vehicle and has sandingchutes located directly in front of before the front wheels of thevehicle. The hopper is preferably provided with support legs and isconnected to a suspension frame by means of pivotal levers controlled bya hydraulic or pneumatic jack.

PATENTEUJUH28|97I 3,588,155

W .IHlh/ |NVENTOR WALTER HIRT Mid/06 ATTORNEYS SANDING HOPPER Thepresent invention relates to an automatic sanding apparatus which isattachable to street vehicles for spreading granulated or pulverizedmaterial onto slippery roads. More particularly, the present inventionrelates to a sanding apparatus having at least one hopper for storingthe granulated material and two sanding chutes, one being provided foreach track of the vehicle.

In prior art apparatus of this type, small sanding devices have beenfixedly disposed in front of the rear wheels of cargo trucks. Such smallstrewing equipment was designed merely to facilitate the starting andbraking of the vehicle on icy ground, with the disadvantage that,because of their limited capacity, they are unable to spread materialover a larger area and over a longer distance.

Another disadvantage of such apparatus results from the fact that, dueto the location thereof near the rear wheels of the vehicle, it has noinfluence on the steering of the vehicle on slippery roads.

In another type of sanding apparatus, the discharging means have beenarranged on the sides of the vehicle and provided with centrifugalsanding drums in order to ensure an increased spreading range. However,even these devices cannot spread the granulated material far enough toreach the surface area in front of the front wheels of the vehicle.

The object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide aautomatic sanding apparatus which simply and efficiently distributesgranulated loose material both to the steering and to the drivingwheels.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sandingapparatus which can be easily attached to a carrier vehicle and readilydismounted, if so desired.

A further object of the present invention is to insure that the vehiclebe able to safely operate on icy nonsanded roads.

The aforementioned objects are attained by adapting a conventionalsanding apparatus to be disconnectably mountable to an attachment framearranged at the front ofa vehicle and which when mounted thereon andwill direct the sanding material before the front wheels. The apparatusis coupled to the attachment frame by easily releasable couplingelements so that it can be rapidly exchanged for another type ofattachment, such as a snowplough, for example, without the employment ofauxiliary equipment which hcretofor has been necessary for this purpose.

In order to further simplify the mounting and dismounting of the sandingapparatus of this invention, the coupling or suspension elements forengaging the attachment frame of the vehicle are designed in such amanner as to be able to adjust themselves in height with respect to thatframe. For this reason the sanding apparatus has a parallelogram linkagesystem coupled to a suspension frame and a hydraulic or pneumatic jackpivotably mounted between an elevated portion of the frame and the lowerlink. The jack can be coupled by a flexible and extensible hose to aremote power source, for example, a compressor within the vehicle.

Prior to the mounting of the sanding apparatus on the attachment frame,the flexible hose of the pneumatic jack is first connected to thecompressor. Subsequently, the jack is activated to elevate the linkagewith the suspension frame to a height which is suitable and convenientfor the attachment. As soon as the suspension frame is mounted on theattachment frame, the entire sanding apparatus can be lifted up from theground by the jack without any manual operation and set at a levelsuitable for the spreading operation. The dismounting process of theapparatus is accomplished similarly in the reverse order of therespective steps.

The sanding apparatus can be designed with a single storage hopperhaving two sanding chutes directed toward corresponding paths in frontof the steering wheels of the vehicle. It is, of course, possible toprovide separate storage hoppers, each with a single chute for itsrespective path.

The sanding chutes can be equipped with output control members whichenable the operator, during the travel of the vehicle, to adjust thesanding rate to the actual road conditions. These control members can bein the form of a simple valve or shutter disposed within the chute andcontrolled by means ofa Bowden cable from the driver's cab.

It is also possible to dispose a revolving worm within the dischargechute of the hopper and to regulate the amount of spread material byvarying the speed of rotation of the worm.

The automatic sanding apparatus according to this invention isparticularly suitable for employment with street maintenance vehiclesdesigned for spreading loose material on slippery roads. It insures thatthe vehicle will be able to operate safely on icy roads which have notyet been covered with a protective layer of granulated material. Bycontrast, conventional sanding arrangements having centrifugal sandingdrums for covering the entire surface area of the road from the rear orlateral sides of the vehicle cannot attain the aforementioned results.

The present invention will now be explained in more detail withreference to the two preferred embodiments shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematical side elevation ofa sanding apparatus accordingto this invention in connection with a cargo truck;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the arrangement of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a modification of the apparatus of FIG. 1having self-supporting suspension means; and

FIG. 4 is the apparatus of FIG. 3 with automatically elevated suspensionmeans shown prior to the attachment thereof to a vehicle.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a cargo truck 1 havingat the front side thereofa conventional articulated attachment frame 2.According to this invention, the automatic sanding apparatus 3 issuspended on the front attachment frame 2 and has two storage tanks orhoppers 4 and 5 containing the granulated material to be spread onto theroad. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, each hopper has at its bottom adischarge chute 6 directed toward a path before the front wheels of thetruck 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a variation in the structure for mounting theautomatic sanding apparatus of this invention. To facilitate theattachment of the apparatus to the vehicle, the hopper 4 is adjustablycoupled to a suspension frame 7 by means of a parallelogram linkage 8and 9. The suspension frame 7 is provided with an upwardly projectingmember 7a which is pivotally connected via a hydraulic or pneumatic jack10 to the lower arm 9 of the linkage. The hopper 4 is further equippedwith supporting legs 11 and 12 which maintain the upright position ofthe apparatus when disengaged from the vehicle. As seen in FIG. 4, thevertical adjustment of an articulated or suspension frame 7 can beeffected automatically by the aid of expandable hose or flexible conduit13 which is coupled between the pneumatic jack l0 and a remote powersource, such as a compressor within the vehicle 1. Due to theparallelogram connection of the pivotal linkage 3 and 9, the liftingaction ofjack 10 can vertically displace the suspension frame 7 up tothe upper level of attachment frame 2. Subsequently, the vehicle 1 ismoved toward the suspension frame and the latter can be fastened orhooked up on the attachment frame by engaging the suspension frame hook7b with the top of said frame. By further action of the jack, the hopper4 may be lifted and adjusted into its proper working position above theroad surface with the legs I1, 12 being sufficiently spaced from saidsurface to avoid the danger of contacting the road surface orobstructions thereon.

I claim:

1. A sanding hopper device for spreading pulverized material on the roadsurface in the track of vehicle wheels, including fastening meansreleasably connecting said device with a vehicle to support the hopperdevice, articulated frame means on said hopper device for supportingsaid device on a substantially horizontal surface when said device isdisengaged from the vehicle, power means which changes the altitude ofsaid fastening means whereby said hopper device can be engaged with thevehicle, and said power means spacing said hopper device from the roadsurface when said hopper device is engaged with the vehicle whereby thehopper device will not contact the road surface or obstacles thereonwhen the vehicle is moved along the road surface.

2. A device according to claim 1, where said articulated framecomprises. a parallelogram linkage including upper and lower arm meansadjustably coupling said hopper device to said articulated frame meansand jack means pivotally coupled between the upper portion of saidarticulated frame means and said lower arm means, whereby thedisplacement of said jack means will change the altitude of saidfastening means when said device is being supported on a horizontalsurface and will change the altitude of said hopper device

